8 candidates seek second chance in 47th Congressional District

LONG BEACH — For years, Long Beach's congressional seat has been firmly controlled by Rep. Laura Richardson.

Now, Richardson, a three-term Democrat facing a House ethics investigation, has moved to San Pedro to run against fellow Democratic Rep. Janice Hahn in the new 44th Congressional District that stretches from the Port of Los Angeles to South Gate.

Though eight candidates have stepped forward to fill the void left by Richardson ceding her hometown district - the newly-drawn 47th - political observers consider only three of them as most likely to advance through the June primary where the top two finishers, regardless of party, will advance to the November election.

The district encompasses most of Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill and parts of cities in West Orange County.

Democrats outnumber Republicans 151,865 registered voters to 111,450 voters in the district, which has a total of 357,970 voters, according to April 6 figures reported by the Secretary of State's Office.

The disparity has one of the presumed front-runners, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, favored to win through to the second round, with one of two Republicans, Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong and former South Bay Congressman Steve Kuykendall, filling the other general election slot.

"If you're betting, it's going to be DeLong," said Allan Hoffenblum, a former Republican strategist who co-edits the nonpartisan elections guide the California Target Book.

Hoffenblum based his assertion on DeLong's fundraising prowess - he has raised $569,051 in the election cycle to outstrip the field, compared with $103,943 for Kuykendall and $377,409 for Lowenthal.

DeLong also has a weighty list of endorsers that includes former Gov. George Deukmejian, several current members of Congress, members of the Legislature, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, county supervisors in Orange County, dozens of elected officials in surrounding cities and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

"I think the only question is if Kuykendall's name identification is enough to overtake DeLong," Hoffenblum said.

Front-runners

On that topic, Kuykendall, 65, agrees that he will have to tap into his name recognition to contend with DeLong's war chest.

He points out that he has run in six elections in Long Beach dating back to his state Assembly days, losing only once, a 2004 Assembly contest against Democrat Betty Karnette.

Kuykendall, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, represented the South Bay in Congress from 1999-2001, a time when relations between parties at the U.S. Capitol were more genial than the hyperpartisan environment of today.

It's something he has observed with some dismay.

"Our whole system of government was not designed to work with black-and-white answers," said Kuykendall. "It's made to give you consensus building."

After an eight-year absence, Kuykendall said he has thrown his hat back into the political ring to help get the economy "clicking" again.

"We have to back off these darn regulations, we have to quit dreaming about new taxation for the time being," he said.

The owner of a telecommunications consulting firm, DeLong was first elected to Long Beach City Council in 2006. He is now in his second term.

Though he does push some aspects of supply-side economics, DeLong notably advocates closing corporate tax loopholes and spreads blame for recent budget troubles.

"The federal government has doubled in cost in 10 years, it's increased 100 percent," DeLong said. "The important thing to note is that it's both Republican and Democrat administrations."

DeLong, whose campaign efforts have caught the attention of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is undaunted by the 11 percent Democratic registration advantage in the district.

His campaign has run models showing that the registration spread among likely voters is between 0.5 and 4 percent, and with 41 percent of voters in Orange County, DeLong thinks his fiscally conservative and socially moderate views - he is pro-choice and supports gay marriages - will resonate enough to bridge the gap.

He also counts on what he terms "Lowenthal fatigue" among Democrats.

"I have more in common with a moderate Democrat than a liberal Democrat does," said DeLong.

"Liberal" is not a label that Lowenthal, 71, would deny.

He is running on a platform of job creation, environmental protection and promoting education.

Through terms in the state Senate, state Assembly and Long Beach City Council, Lowenthal has long held to the belief that the environment can be protected while business thrives.

When he joined the Assembly, he pushed legislation, eventually signed into law, to cover petroleum coke piles at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to protect nearby residents. He has also passed bills to cut pollution at the ports while providing money to invest in green technology jobs.

"When I first started, they told me I couldn't do it," Lowenthal said. "Some bills got passed, some didn't. Over the years, people stopped fighting me."

Lowenthal, who was a community psychologist and professor at Cal State Long Beach prior to entering politics, said he has governed in a spirit of consensus and coalition building, citing his work with Republicans to help create a public- private partnership that made possible the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach. The $395 million courthouse is on schedule for completion in 2013.

Lowenthal said he is running for Congress because he views the present as the most critical time in the nation's history.

"We have to decide whether we're still going to keep that social commitment to Social Security, to Medicare, to people who have worked their whole lives," said Lowenthal. "All of that's being challenged."

He dismisses accusations that he has relied too much on his status as the Democratic Party banner carrier - particularly in supporting the controversial move to eliminate redevelopment agencies statewide - and that he has run a campaign from afar.

"I can't just walk out of the Legislature," said Lowenthal. "My opponents know I'm the front-runner and they are attacking me."

Grass-roots candidates

With three candidates grossly outstripping them in fundraising, mailings and headlines, the remaining five contenders are left making their case door-to-door and in a handful of debates.

Debates are something in which Democrat Peter Mathews, 60, is well versed.

A Cypress College professor for 26 years, Mathews has made several runs at state and national office.

He came closest to victory in 1998, when he was Rep. Steve Horn's general election opponent and lost 44 percent to 53percent.

Mathews, a Long Beach resident, characterizes himself as a modern FDR Democrat, supporting social programs and workers' rights.

He supports raising taxes on incomes above $1 million to invest in infrastructure and pay down the debt. He also proposes reducing the corporate tax rate to 14 percent and attracting foreign investment.

"My first priority is to get our people high-paying, quality jobs by having an educated workforce," Mathews said.

Another candidate and Long Beach resident, 68-year-old Sanford Kahn, is distinguished by being more conservative than DeLong and Kuykendall.

Kahn, a mechanical engineer by training who is now a business author and speaker, pushes a flat tax of 15 to 17percent with a large standard deduction and school choice vouchers.

"What I'm really proposing is to expand the set of choices for individuals and not constrain them," Kahn said.

Democrat Jay Shah, 75, has said he would raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year and eliminate government waste to tackle deficits.

A medical doctor, Shah wants to improve access to health care and spoke in favor of a single-payer health care system at a debate. Lowenthal and Mathews also supported a single-payer system; Kuykendall, DeLong and Kahn opposed it.

Shah's wife, Usha Shah, 72, is also running as a Democrat. She has advocated for women's rights on the campaign trail.

Republican Steve Foley, 39, of Orange County, has not appeared at debates. In public statements, he has presented himself as a conservative alternative to Kuykendall and DeLong.

On his website, Foley has embraced the "9-9-9" plan of former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. The tax reform proposal would replace the current tax code with a 9 percent flat tax on household income, a 9 percent corporate tax and a 9 percent federal sales tax.

As voters prepare to navigate the well-stocked slate, Hoffenblum said the vote spread in June may be an early indicator of whether the race will be competitive in the fall.

Assuming Lowenthal makes it to the November ballot, if the combined Republican vote tallies above 45 percent, the GOP may have enough moxie to take on Democrats, according to Hoffenblum.

"If not," Hoffenblum said, "it will be hard for anyone to get the money to defeat Lowenthal."